Upcoming Ads Roadmap and Changes

Updates Announcements
#107

I want to be happy here. I want to say that this was a great change. I want to say that Roblox are taking steps forward in modernizing and streamlining their approach to letting people advertise their games and items, bettering the experience for everyone. But I can not.

All because of this:

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I don’t care how much better advertising games is going to be with this change, I’m not going to fill out a bunch of information like my first and last name in order to do what I’ve been able to do before without it. The last thing I need to worry about is the risk of having my whole identity doxxed in a random data leak for the people who don’t like me to find out about and harass me over. All because I wanted people to join my game about a chicken trolling people.

You could argue “why not just use fake information?”, but I could very easily counter that with another question: Why do we need to do this in the first place? Maybe for if you’re using forms of advertising that can use real money over Robux (There may be laws surrounding that sort of thing, I don’t know), but even then Roblox could lock USD payment if the information isn’t given and just let users use Ad Credit which uses Robux.

This is completely out of line for Roblox to force like this, and I’m not standing for it. I’d rather let my games rot away than give this information, which is what’s going to happen. I refuse to make an Ads Manager account.

The death of User Ads is the icing on the cake. While the system being removed was definitely expected at this point, it just feels like I’m being boxed into giving my personal information alongside the new Ads Manager. Plus, they’re still a very useful tool - just not for games. Is there even another way to advertise stuff like groups and t-shirts? I don’t think there is. It’s just a bad situation all around for everyone that advertises anything besides games or for people who don’t want to use the new ads manager over privacy concerns like me.

Despite all the bad updates pushing me away, despite the new features that break my games, despite all of that, I have continued making games in at least some fashion because I knew that I could still gain some sort of audience in a games release, no matter how big or small. Now I don’t even have THAT.

Thank you for ruining everything for me, Roblox. I really appreciate it.

15 Likes
Sponsored Experiences moving to Ads Manager
#108

I filled out the information!

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By not filling it out. Clearly this is how it’s intended to be.

Roblox claims that this and the 18 age requirement is for “associated partners”, but I don’t think that it has anything to do with that.

4 Likes
#109

This is a really negative change as a result in the significant increase to advertising cost.

Right now immersive ads in the ad manager use a “Cost Per Play” model which charged $0.20 per play at a minimum.

Right now, the sponsors I run (with robux) cost about $0.02-0.03 per play.

If this goes through that is a 10 TIMES INCREASE in advertisement costs, which will make it impossible for new games to grow and break even on their advertising.

Everyone who is “excited” about this change either does not run a game themselves or has no clue how the Roblox game development economy works.

12 Likes
#110

Thank you for the robux conversion thing that was all I really cared about. Good update

#111

Are you sure this is a good update?

1 Like
#112

Literally how? You had three type of ads; small square box, side box, and top box. They were easily ignored, and if anything, underutilized. Even in the few games I’ve played that featured buyable ads, they were on billboards on the side, or blimps in the air.

The biggest issue with ads back then was the constant copies from different users, and that was a problem of your own creation, as Roblox has never been serious about preventing content theft in the past, thus encouraging it, and not punishing those who stole other users’ work.

6 Likes
#113

There are ongoing battles for ad space in User Ads, moving them to sponsorships will already make it harder fir games to grow. If it already wasn’t.

#115

hey about that personal information. is there a way to get it without give roblox my personal information. i don’t feel safe giving someone my personal information. i don’t even tell people my age

1 Like
#116

I thought I was the only one. I was under the impression that this would be tied to my account but, I have to hand over a lot of info to just create another account…? On top of that, it’s literally begging me to input my card every five seconds.

I feel like no one in the comments actually clicked the link and went through the process or read the fine print. If anyone does come across this, read the post (ignore the technical jardon) and decide based on face value if this matters to you.

I am not giving you my info. I will never give you my info. I am getting tired of saying no. Take the hint. Simple stuff like this should not require an identification + address + other stuff before I even get to use said service. It’s how you alienate your entire community.

We live in an age where privacy on the internet matters. Stop gatekeeping features as an excuse to steal, mine, use, etc my information. I don’t care if it’s in “good hands”. That’s what everyone says. And guess what, it never is. You’re not a magical exception. The book writes itself over and over. I already know the ending. Quite simply, I do not want to partake.

People on here who support this are equally to blame. Y’all let this cycle of feature-walling perpetuate. It’s like every couple updates, we get an absolute banger and then, this shows up and it’s some “omg guess what, we’re putting yet another feature behind a wall and all we need is your government id, address, who you are, what you had for breakfast, etc”.

I think it might actually be better to stay off this platform if this is where we’re heading. Sure, you give me scalable servers but, I can do that myself. Best part is I don’t have to sell my soul to do it.

I can’t even say the platform is free or worth it anymore. It’s basically turning into a pay-only, multi-subscription wallet sucking scheme. This is the literal definition of corporate greed. You’re hoping, pleading, begging for developers to buy robux to cash out and be tied to this service forever.

Money. Money. Money.

21 Likes
#117

N-no user ads?
Yeah this update is quite good (for the most parts), those follow ads been annoying me out.

#118

sponsors are trash and not worth anything. good work Roblox inc

2 Likes
#120

I must say, this was articulated very well. Exactly how I feel.

6 Likes
#121

I am concerned on how I have to give my house address just so I can be able to advertise a silly game. How can I really know my information will be safe? People shouldn’t have to give sensitive info just for that. This is not good.

Also I feel like Immersive Ads are going to have worse engagement than User Ads. Immersive Ads feel intrusive, bland and will make places by smaller developers more difficult to find, specially with the new system (and giving your sensitive info).

5 Likes
#122

In agreement with all the negative replies, this change doesn’t feel necessary and does have the potential to do more harm than good.

As other users have stated:

  • How do we make these ads fit in? Immersive ads are very strict with what you’re allowed to do with them, to the point where in most cases it looks odd or out of place with the experience.

  • Immersive Ads are more expensive. These kinds of ads use a cost-per-play model which ends up being incredibly more expensive than if someone saw the advertisement and chose not to play. I’d rather put Robux into an ad and watch it fail than have my money drained from me with not being able to tell just how much I’m going to lose. Also Immersive Ads always have the Roblox logo on them anyway, with little to no actual ads.

  • DevEx rates exchange for Robux. It goes without saying this is a clear problem. Roblox basically robs like all of our money when we DevEx to the point where you make more money in a month working for McDonalds than you do with your Roblox game. That is a clear issue. How does a company like Epic Games pull this off better than Roblox, may I ask?

  • Reliability. Roblox is notorious for being unreliable in most cases at various times. It’s common for the platforms APIs to slow down, or downright stop functioning entirely. While Roblox has imbursed creators for the October shutdown, they clearly never did after that. Roblox is also slow to reimburse creators with deleted catalog items, so how do they intend on giving people their real life money back? These are concerns that cannot be glossed over.

I’m also one of those Developers who care a lot about their privacy. Sure while I have age verified, and it has already given quite the bit of information, at least that information is actually strictly deleted after 90 days in which Roblox can no longer hold onto it. With this new Ads Manager, it looks like it’s all in Roblox’s hands now, and that’s something I’m not comfortable with, especially as it seems there is no clear indication where this information is being stored, and for what purpose it is required.

As much as I love this platform, and will continue to make games for the sake of entertainment in my free time, I will NEVER be able to start a career of this platform. I’ve been objective to updates like Dynamic Heads and don’t mind those features as long as they function as described. That being said though, changes like these and that incredibly stupid marketplace policy update puts more complex challenges up for Roblox that ends up being more of a cost for them than they thought it would improve.

I would be 100% OK with these changes if we could just pay for Ads directly with Robux without needing to make a new Ad account. We should be able to pay for ads with the Robux like we did before, without needing some type of “AdSense” account, like Google Services. That way Roblox keeps their side of the profit, and for developers who have been using the User Ads system for over a decade can actually continue to use what they’re used too, and thrive off the platform. Limiting the scope for us makes us lose out on profit, which means you also lose out on profit Roblox, think about it.

Please give these ideas a little more time to settle, and maybe think about completely reverting some of them. As a small developer, I’m screwed.

14 Likes
#123

Epic generates a ton of money and has very normalized operating costs. Roblox’s operating costs exceed it’s threshold so, they’re losing money. Anything on the platform that is free costs money from Roblox. Server costs, image storage, video storage, rapid deployment, service fees, etc. I think eventually, the platform will just become paid if it isn’t already.

1 Like
#124

That’s fair. One thing I didn’t consider was the fact that Roblox does host all those things for free. I’m not saying that “Roblox has billions of dollars so therefore (reason)”, I’m just trying to say that they can go about these changes in better ways that have time and time again, been articulated by their own developers.

I’m just frustrated, and I’m sure many others are.

If Roblox wants to be paid, they should just come forth so we can pack our bags and leave. Just tell it to our faces already.

3 Likes
#125

Overall excited to hear that sponsorships are being improved on. I am however a bit in awe at the decision to fully remove UserAds, I mean, we all saw it coming, but it is a strange decision nonetheless. UserAds have been a part of Roblox for a very long time and from my own personal experience they have never been intrusive.

As someone else pointed out, what’s really more intrusive, a little advertisement on the side of your screen, or a portal in-game that will teleport you from the game you are in to another game? And to be honest, a lot of the developers I have spoken to are not willing to use portals because you gain more from keeping the player in-game rather than getting paid for them to leave.

I definitively see good points as to why UserAds should be removed, but I think a better approach would have been to look at how UserAds can be better moderated and improved on, rather than outright removing it. Why remove something if it works in favor of the unknown that might not work?

Either way, conclusively, this is a breath of fresh air. It seems that Roblox has put a decent amount of thought into this, and it is in everyone’s interest that this works out. Advertisement plays such a huge role for up-and-coming games. Hopefully it is properly executed and we see serious improvements to sponsors and their yield!

6 Likes
#126
  • Replacing User Ads in favor of Sponsored items, a form of advertising that is way less rewarding by a long shot?
  • Having to give Roblox my full name, exact address and billing information just to advertise my silly passion projects?

Hard pass. I can still excuse ID verification considering that Roblox does not have actual access to the contents of my ID, and uses a third party for verification. I am not giving this much personally identifiable and billing information to Roblox. This is a downright malicious way of making Roblox players give you information for a feature that worked fine for years without these arbitrary restrictions.

Didn’t you guys also work with Tencent?

11 Likes
#127

Please refrain from eliminating user-generated advertisements. These quirky skyscrapers and banners created by random individuals bring a touch of humor to the platform. It’s the unique charm of this website that I enjoy the presence of ads here. Removing them would be ill-advised. This move could unfairly disadvantage small developers, as wealthier individuals might dominate with paid ads. Small developers’ ads would be relegated to obscurity. I’d rather the Roblox ad system not mirror the ubiquitous Google and YouTube ads. Such a decision to remove them would require a certain level of ruthlessness. Roblox’s distinctiveness lies in this feature, setting it apart from other platforms. It’s regrettable that a shift towards a more “metaverse” style is favored.

17 Likes
#128

Removing user ads is not a good idea. Especially if you take a look at the game discovery, there are a lot of SEO optimized games getting promoted. In-game ads are not as popular as them and sponsors aren’t as good as before like everyone says. User ads are one of the only ways of some games getting visibility. Before these issues get fixed, user ads should definitely not get removed.

7 Likes